A series of emergency notifications sent to students through email and text messages to the community that left many students not attending class and wondering if there was an actual lock-down.
Joan Todd, executive director of public relations, said around 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning, a man was spotted carrying what looked to be a firearm.
Students received emails and texts around 8 a.m. warning of a man with a gun seen north of Bracken Library and telling students to stay secure in a safe place. A later message from the university at 8:32 a.m. gave students a description of the suspected gunman, although the message said he was not threatening.
At 9:27 a.m., an “all clear” was called, which Todd said meant the University Police Department searched and secured the area.
Gene Burton, director of public safety, said a female student called UPD that morning. Burton interviewed her before UPD began the search for the alleged gunman. Officers determined the campus was safe following a search of the area of Bracken Library and Noyer Complex, where the gunman was reportedly walking toward, and all of campus north of Riverside Avenue.
Burton said the factors of not receiving any further reports of a gunman, not seeing more action once the description was released to the public and the trepidation of the initial witness made the department feel the campus was safe.
“She just thought; she wasn’t positive she saw a gun,” he said. “We were confident with all of those factors taken into account that the campus was safe, and we were able to resume normal activities.”
Burton said while he doesn’t believe the report was a prank, the student could have been mistaken.
“[The alleged gunman] didn’t talk to her; they didn’t say anything; they didn’t make any gestures or waving the object around,” he said. “There was no obvious actions of the person; they were just walking in front of the library. But at the time of the call [it] is not the time to sit and think about whether the person was right or not.”
Burton said the emergency notifications completed the appropriate purpose, while it never declared a lock down of campus, as many students thought.
“What we are trying to do with the initial text message is to get the desired action that we need which was for your safety, stay out of the area,” he said. “We understand that everyone has a desire to know more of what’s going on, but at that point, what to do is mitigate the situation and keep the area as clear as possible and to do that as quickly as possible.”
Residence halls locked down and did not allow students to leave or enter for the duration of the search. Burton said the decision to lockdown for residence halls is a decision made by their own protocol, separate from how academic buildings reacted.
Forest Bender, a senior philosophy major, said he believed the messages should have been clearer and offered more information.
“Them saying all clear was extremely diluting to the situation,” Bender said. “The man had not been found at the time. The police, it seems, just walked through campus and just didn’t find anyone with a gun.”
Several students, like Kayla Aaron, a senior public relations major, looked to social media for more information.
“As much as I trust my friends, I don’t trust the Internet,” Aaron said. “I wanted to know firsthand if we were on a lockdown, and if so, what we were doing about it.”
Aaron said the emails she received, while giving information about the gunman, were not clear whether she was expected to attend class or if she should stay in her off-campus home.
“Everything just seemed very up in the air – as if Ball State did not want to say we were on a lockdown,” Aaron said.
Todd said students were directed in the texts to visit the Ball State website for further information and to review the university’s procedures for emergencies.
Bender said he believed that while the police department may have deemed it safe to be on campus, the campus should have been closed for the day.
“Personally all my classes were canceled today because my professors took it into their own hands after Ball State didn’t do so,” Bender said.
Todd said she believes the emergency warnings worked as they are intended Monday, offering all students the knowledge they need to remain safe.
“Our number one priority is student safety,” Todd said. “[The university] acted out of an abundance of caution, sent out emergency alerts and once we felt the police had secured the area it was lifted.”
Burton said UPD and other departments will reflect on the handling of the incident, as they do with all critical incidents. He said UPD will raise patrol of the area and academic buildings and have a heightened sense of awareness following the event.
